Fractional ownership is a percentage ownership of a specific asset (资产）. It has often been used to share the ownership of expensive assets such as expensive boats, private planes and so on. When the value of the asset increases, the ownership shares do as well. Co-owners also share equally the costs carried by the asset. Most recently, the same concept of fractional ownership was applied to art as well. The logic is the same. Multiple people own one artwork and share the benefits and the costs of the asset. Galleries and artists, instead of selling one artwork to one person, they can sell it to more than 1000 art lovers.
Co-ownership of art gives the possibility to everyone to participate in the art market. The potential market for artworks is suddenly way bigger. Only a few people can afford artworks that cost more than £100,000. But everyone can afford to buy some shares priced at £10 each. On top of this, all co-owners share the costs involved with the acquisition of an artwork. For art lovers that are just starting to collect art for investment (投资） reasons, co-ownership of art can be a great tool to start learning and understanding the market without risking too much capital. For big collectors instead, sharing the ownership of an artwork is an easy way to diversify their portfolio (投资组合） without having the burden of managing the asset.
For many years only wealthy people could afford to buy expensive artworks. Because of this, most artworks are hidden in private collections and dark storages since decades where the public has no access to. And, if we think that art is supposed to deliver important messages and topics and is the representation of our past and present, it seems incredible that art has become something that few people can fully enjoy. Fractional ownership of art, by giving everyone the possibility to co-own art, has the power to greatly change this. Suddenly, art becomes an asset available to everyone and, by being more accessible, it starts to attract way more people.
1. Which of the following is a kind of fractional ownership?| A．A wealthy businessman owns a private ship. |
| B．A museum event is attended by 1000 art lovers. |
| C．Galleries and artists sold one artwork to one person. |
| D．10 friends bought a house priced at S10,000 together. |
| A．The potential market for artworks. |
| B．The source of capital for investment. |
| C．The benefit of fractional ownership. |
| D．The development of fractional ownership. |
| A．Art contributes greatly to social economy. |
| B．Co-ownership of art benefits the general public. |
| C．Only wealthy people could afford expensive artworks. |
| D．Fractional ownership is a way to invest without risk. |
相似题推荐
The sharing economy has grown in recent years to include everything from apartment sharing to car sharing to community tool sharing. Since 2009,a new form of sharing economy has been emerging in neighborhoods throughout the US and around the world—Little Free Libraries. The libraries are boxes placed in neighborhoods where residents(居民) can take out and leave books. Little Free Libraries come in all shapes and sizes. Some libraries also have themes, focusing on books for children, adults, or tour guides.
In 2009,Tod Bol built the first Little Free Library as a gift to his mother, a devoted reader. When he saw the people of his community gathering around it, exchanging conversations as well as books, he knew he wanted to take his simple idea further. “I think Little Free Libraries open the door to conversations we want to have with each other.” Bol said.
Since then, his idea has become a movement, spreading from state to state and country to country. According to Little Free Library. org, there are now 18,000 of the little structures around the world, located in each of the 50 US states and 70 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.
The Internet has helped to spread Little Free Libraries. But an Atlantic article says the little structures serve as a cure for a world of e-reader downloads. The little wooden boxes are refreshingly physical and human. For many people, the sense of discovery is Little Free Libraries’ main appeal. “A girl walking home from school might pick up a graphic novel that gets her excited about reading; a man on his way to the bus stop might find a volume of poetry that changes his outlook on life,” says the Atlantic article. “Every book is a potential source of inspiration.”
1. How do Little Free Libraries get their books?
| A．Citizens shared them. | B．Tod Bol donated them. |
| C．US government provided them. | D．The communities bought them. |
| A．He wanted to promote his idea worldwide. |
| B．He was inspired by the sharing economy. |
| C．They can offer neighbors more chances to talk. |
| D．They are a gift to please his mother. |
| A．help cut down on e-reading |
| B．benefit the spread of the Internet |
| C．promote e-reader downloads |
| D．call on human to care about each other |
| A．they connect strangers together |
| B．they are located all over the world |
| C．they are in various shapes and sizes |
| D．they may give readers a sense of discovery |
【推荐2】Poets,songwriters and left—wing politicians hate the idea,but for decades,opinion—poll evidence has been clear: money buys happiness and the richer you are,the more likely you are to express satisfaction with your life.Until now,a survey of 43 countries published on October 30th by the Pew Research Centre shows that people in emerging markets are within a whisker of(一步之遥)expressing the same level of satisfaction as people in rich countries.It is in line with the standard view of happiness and income seen so far.
According to the survey,in 2007,57%of respondents in rich countries regarded themselves as happy;in emerging markets the share was 33%; in poor countries only 16%—a classic expression of the standard view. But in 2017, 54% of rich—country respondents counted themselves as happy,whereas in emerging markets the percentage jumped to 51%.
The sharp increase happened thanks to huge improvements in countries such as Indonesia (+35)and Pakistan(+22).In 12 of the 24 emerging markets,half or more people rate their life satisfaction in the top of the ladder.
This is not to say the link between income and satisfaction has been snapped. Poor countries still lag behind:only a quarter of the people there count themselves as happy—half the level of the other two groups.There is also a clear link between happiness and income growth.China's GDP rose at an annual average rate of 10% in 2007—2017 and its happiness level rose 26 points.
Within countries,richer people express more satisfaction than their poorer neighbors.The study divided respondents into categories with higher and lower incomes and fewer and more household goods.In every country in every group, richer folk with more goods expressed higher levels of happiness.So at a personal level,money does buy happiness.And if you ask people about different aspects of their lives—health,family life,religion,standard of living—it turns out that satisfaction with living standards still has the biggest influence on happiness.
1. What's the standard view of happiness and income?| A．Income is not closely related to happiness. |
| B．Happiness does not depend on how much you earn. |
| C．The higher your income is, the more likely you will feel satisfied. |
| D．The more you are satisfied, the more you can earn every month. |
| A．Their rapid development. | B．Investment in emerging markets. |
| C．Economic downturn. | D．More cooperation with rich countries. |
| A．To prove that China's GDP growth led to the happiness of people in Asia. |
| B．To remind readers of the progress that China has made. |
| C．To express the author's concern about the development of emerging markets. |
| D．To show that there is a link between happiness and income growth. |
| A．Disappointed. | B．Skeptical |
| C．Supportive. | D．Indifferent. |
【推荐3】His Excellency
Kim Jong Un
Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Dear Mr. Chairman,
We greatly appreciate your time, patience, and effort with respect to our recent negotiations and discussions relative to a summit (峰会) long sought by both parties, which was scheduled to take place on June 12 in Singapore.
We were informed that the meeting was requested by North Korea, but that to us is totally irrelevant (不重要的). I was very much looking forward to being there with you.
Sadly, based on the unacceptable and unfriendly statement, I feel it is not proper, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.
Therefore, please let this letter to serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place.
You talk about your nuclear capabilities (能力), but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.
I felt a wonderful dialogue was building up between you and me, and ultimately, it is only that dialogue that matters. Some day, I look very much forward to meeting you.
In the meantime, I want to thank you for the release of the hostages (人质) who are now home with their families. That was a beautiful gesture and was very much appreciated.
If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write. The world, and North Korea in particular, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth. This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history.
Sincerely yours,
Donald J. Trump
President of the United States of America
1. What is the purpose of this letter written by Donald J. Trump?| A．To invite Kim Jong Un to take part in a summit to be held in Singapore. |
| B．To cancel the summit to be held on June 12. |
| C．To express his appreciation for the patience and effort of Kim Jong Un. |
| D．To show off the nuclear capabilities of the United States. |
| A．Damage. | B．Advantage. | C．Benefit. | D．Development. |
| A．Trump is greatly dissatisfied with the release of the hostages. |
| B．Kim Jong Un did not want to release the American hostages. |
| C．Trump is eager to hold another summit with Kim Jong Un next year. |
| D．The Singapore summit may be a great chance for the peace of the world. |
【推荐1】The ocean, with its vast mysteries hidden in its depths, has long excited human curiosity. From ancient maps decorated with dragons and sea monsters to modern-day technology, we’ve made limited progress in uncovering the secrets of the deep blue. Despite the technological advancements to date, only around five percent of the world’s oceans have been mapped.
The power of underwater exploration is currently the biggest obstacle we face. While technologies like wave and tidal power show promise, they are often location-dependent. Solar power, on the other hand, offers an ever-present and powerful energy source, even beneath the ocean’s surface. Sunlight can penetrate (穿透) waters up to 50 meters deep, providing sufficient energy to operate basic appliances. And in recent research conducted by a team from NYU Tandon School of Engineering, solar cells successfully powered AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) and communications equipment, demonstrating its enormous potential for undersea exploration.
However, some challenges remain. One lies in the design of existing silicon (硅) solar technology, which is ill-suited for underwater environments. Beyond moisture and salt content harmful to electronics in general, silicon solar cells are optimized (使优化) to absorb red and infrared light, which do not penetrate water effectively.
Another critical issue underwater solar cells face is biofouling — the gradual gathering of organic substances on the cells. This buildup blocks light. Furthermore, it affects the underwater vehicles themselves, increasing their weight. Previous experiments revealed that biofouling covered over 50 percent of the surface after just 30 days underwater, significantly hampering solar cell operation.
In the research, the team also tackled practical challenges in designing and testing underwater solar cells. They created innovative solutions, such as using LED lights to copy the light spectrum (光谱) at various depths, removing the need for water during testing.
These experiments demonstrated that silicon-based solar cells performed better in shallow depths, while other cell types proved more efficient below two meters. Although these specially designed underwater solar cells are still in their early stages of development, these contributions could lay the foundations for groundbreaking technologies that reveal both the potential of solar energy and the mysterious depths of our unexplored oceans.
1. What does the author intend to tell us in paragraph 1?| A．The ocean is mostly unexplored. |
| B．The sea has shaped human civilization. |
| C．Marine exploration technology is urgently needed. |
| D．Technology promotes humans’ underwater exploration. |
| A．It is affordable. | B．It is eco-friendly. |
| C．It is location-independent. | D．It is efficient in generating electricity. |
| A．Unconcerned. | B．Favorable. | C．Doubtful. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．Health. | B．Education. | C．Society. | D．Nature. |
【推荐2】Most parents are horrified the first time they catch their kid out in a lie. Just how worried should you be if your little one has started lying, and how can you encourage them to tell the truth?
According to child and teen psychiatrist Gayani DeSilva, MD, lying can actually be a sign of healthy development in young children.
“Kids lie for many reasons, and much of it is normal.” DeSilva says. “People are not born with the tools of interacting with others and getting their needs met. They must learn how to communicate those needs in appropriate ways, and they’ll experiment with different communication techniques until they find the ones that work best for them. Lying is one of those techniques.”
For instance, at age two or three, kids may lie as they experiment with pushing limits to see what behaviors are acceptable and what aren’t. As kids get older, they become more aware of how their actions affect others. Many lie less frequently because they know it could hurt someone else’s feelings or trust. Teens were most likely to consider lying an acceptable behavior if it was to help somebody or keep a personal secret, but not if it was likely to cause harm to somebody.
Just because lying is, in most cases, normal, doesn’t mean it should be ignored. If you know your child is lying, what should you do? When a child lies, look at them directly and ask, “What do you need?” After they tell you, gently remind them that telling you directly will be more effective than lying.
Also, it’s a good idea to model the behavior you want to see in your kids. In other words, don’t lie to your children. This will set you and your children on a course of open communication, trust, and satisfaction that needs and wants are understood and met.
Generally, a child who is neglected will lie more than a child who has attentive and responsive parents. By paying attention to the reasons behind a small lie, parents can figure out if there’s a need that’s not being met.
1. Why do kids lie according to DeSilva?| A．To get their needs met. | B．To improve their communication skills. |
| C．To avoid hurting someone else’s feelings. | D．To be aware of how their actions affect others. |
| A．They think lying limits their behaviors. | B．They realize the negative effects of lying. |
| C．They consider lying an acceptable behavior. | D．They want to help people who are neglected. |
| A．Give them whatever they need. | B．Pretend not to notice their lies. |
| C．Set a good example to them. | D．Remind them not to lie again. |
| A．Acceptable and appropriate. | B．Harmful and worrying. |
| C．Normal and understandable. | D．Healthy and effective. |
【推荐3】Twelve years ago, a young traveler named Rhett Butler from San Francisco, California, visited the Sabah rainforest on Malaysian Borneo. In one area of the rainforest, he watched a bird flying through the trees. The beautiful sight left quite an impression on him. But weeks later, back home, Rhett Butler got the news that trees had been cut down for their wood in the area he visited.
That experience led Rhett Butler to begin writing a book about rainforests and threats (威胁) to their existence. But he did not publish the book. Instead, in 1999, he used his research for the book to create a website. The site is Mongabay.com. His purpose was to inform the public about tropical rainforests. But the subject quickly developed. As a former businessman, he became a respected writer of science and environmental stories.
The popularity of Mongabay.com attracted advertisers. Small ads on the site pay for its operations. Mongabay.com has grown and led to other sites. For example, there is a site for children which is called kids mongabay.com. Another one, WildMadagascar.org, is all about the island nation that Rhett Butler calls his favorite place.
To keep his website going, he travels around the world on several major trips each year. His working tools are a laptop computer, cameras and sometimes diving equipment. He often calls on experts for information. For example, he interviewed Alison Jolly, a top expert on lemurs (狐猴). He interviewed Rodney Jackson, a biologist who established the Snow Leopard Conservancy.
Stories like these have made Mongabay.com a favorite place on the Internet for researchers, students and teachers. In April, Time. Com. named it one of the fifteen top climate and environment websites in the world.
1. What’s the main idea of the passage?| A．Rhett Butler and His Website |
| B．Rainforest on Malaysian Borneo |
| C．How Rhett Butler Protected Rare Animals |
| D．How Rhett Butler Made His Website Popular |
| A．making websites earns more money than writing books |
| B．he was not prepared to publish his book |
| C．the book was not about rainforest protection |
| D．he wanted to use the information to create a website |
| A．It was set up in 1999. | B．It attracted many advertisers. |
| C．Two related websites grew from it. | D．Rhett Butler made a lot of money from it. |
| A．kept visiting the rainforest | B．traveled around and interviewed experts |
| C．raised rare snow leopards | D．made a great number of advertisements |
(WAIKING WATER EXPERIMENT)
Walking Water Science Experiment for Kids
Let's get set up for walking water with a few quick and easy steps the kids can definitely be a part of! We used test tubes for three sets of primary colors. You can use less as long as you have enough to go around with all the colors mixing. First, add red, yellow, and blue food coloring (one color per test tube) in order. Give each test tube a little stir (搅拌)to evenly distribute the color. Try to put the same amount of food coloring in each container. Cut thin strips of white paper towel to fit in the test tubes. Place them into the test tubes. There will be two ends in each tube. Wait and watch what happens. At this point, you can set up a stopwatch to make notes of how long it takes for the colors to meet and mix.
Before you insert the strips, you have the perfect opportunity to make some predictions about what will happen. Have your kids come up with a prediction for their experiment? Will the water walk? You can start the conversation with "What do you think will happen when we put the towels into the water?"
The whole process starts pretty quickly, but it does take a while for the colors to begin to mix with each other. Extend the science activity: pull out the watercolors and do some color mixing art while you wait. Make sure to check on your walking water science experiment every once in a while to see the changes that are constantly taking place. The kids will be amazed at how the water seems to fight against gravity! As the paper towels absorb the colored water, the water travels up the towel strip. It meets up with the other colored water that has traveled up the neighboring strip. Where the primary colors interact, they turn into the secondary colors. Both colors will continue to travel as long as the towel fibers absorb the water.
The experiment is colorful and simple to do! Plus, it is interesting for multiple ages. Older kids should be able to set it up all by themselves and can also use our science journal page to record their results.
1. What materials are needed for the experiment?| A．Test tubes, food coloring and paper towel. |
| B．Drinking water, test tubes and a notebook. |
| C．Food coloring, water cups and a paper cutter. |
| D．Mixed colors, towel strips and food containers. |
| A．add three colors into each container |
| B．set up a stopwatch from the beginning |
| C．put colorful towel strips in the test tubes |
| D．stir each test tube to make the color even |
| A．food coloring has the power to take in water |
| B．towel fibers absorb water and allow it to travel |
| C．water flows naturally under the influence of gravity |
| D．colors interact with each other and thus travel easily |
【推荐2】The other day, my friend Jane was invited to a 40th birthday party. The time printed on the invitation was 7:30pm. Jane went off with her husband, expecting a merry evening of wine, food, and song.
By 9:45, everybody was having great fun, but no food had appeared. Jane and David were restless. Other guests began whispering that they, too, were starving. But no one wanted to leave, just in case some food was about to appear. By 11:00, there was still no food, and everyone was completely off their heads. Jane and David left hungry and angry.
Their experience suggests that the words in the printed invitations need to be made clearer. Everyone reads and understands the invitations differently. Most of us would agree that 6:30 -8:30pm means drinks only, go out to dinner afterwards; 8:00pm or 8:30pm means possible dinner, but 9:30pm and any time thereafter means no food, eat beforehand, roll up late.
But this is not always the case. If asked to a students' party at 6:30pm, it is normal for guests not to appear before midnight, if at all, and no one cares. Being the first to arrive - looking eager - is social death. When my mother is asked to a party for 6:30, she likes to be there, if not on time, then no later than seven. My age group (late thirties) falls somewhere between the two, but because we still think we’re young, we're probably closer to student-time than grown-up time.
The accepted custom at present is confusing, sometimes annoying, and it often means you may go home hungry, but it does lend every party that precious element (成分) of surprise.
1. The underlined words “off their heads” probably mean_________________.| A．tired | B．crazy | C．curious | D．hopeless |
| A．party-goers usually get hungry at parties |
| B．party invitations can be confusing |
| C．people should ask for food at parties |
| D．birthday parties for middle-aged people are dull |
| A．are likely to arrive late for a party | B．care little about the party time |
| C．haven't really grown up yet | D．like surprises at parties |
【推荐3】If doctors want to test you for something, they’ll usually take a blood or urine sample. But wouldn’t it be much more convenient if they just asked you to breathe through a special instrument?
In fact, your breath can say a lot about you. In traditional Chinese medicine, doctors draw a conclusion about the health state of a patient based on the smell of his or her breath; trained dogs and rats can identify the smells of the breaths of people suffering from certain cancers; traffic police also monitor drivers’ alcohol consumption by testing their breaths.
Just like blood and urine, your breath contains lots of “metabolites” —the waste chemicals that the body produces, which vary from person to person. They are like personal health fingerprints, which is why scientists sometimes call them “breathprints”, according to Science Daily.
Compared to blood or urine testing, breath testing takes only seconds instead of hours, and it requires neither a needle nor a container to hold the body fluids(液). This means the test can be taken frequently to better detect early signs of diseases and monitor the progress of a medical treatment.
On the other hand, as an identifier, you might think that breaths are not as reliable as fingerprints since they might change based on what you eat. However, researchers in Zurich, Switzerland mapped 11 healthy volunteers’ chemical patterns by having them breathe through a special instrument, and they found that each pattern was unique and the patterns didn’t change much throughout the day, reported BBC.
“Our goal is to develop breath analysis to the point where it becomes competitive with the established analysis of blood and urine,” said Malcolm Kohler, professor at the University Hospital Zurich.
1. According to the text we know that______.| A．breath varies from person to person based on food |
| B．your breath may give you away if you are not careful |
| C．doctors can test one’s breath to find about his illness |
| D．trained dogs can identify people with certain cancers |
| A．comfortable and convincing | B．traditional and reliable |
| C．accurate and competitive | D．quick and convenient |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Approving. |
| C．Unconcerned. | D．Worried. |
| A．Breath testing is reliable and may have a bright future. |
| B．Blood or urine testing will be less used in medical treatment. |
| C．Doctors have found the best way to detect early signs of diseases. |
| D．Traditional Chinese medicine is becoming more and more popular. |
【推荐1】When you look at fashion shows or see the latest clothes for this year in a magazine, you might think you’ve seen it all before. It sometimes seems that most of the designers are just going back to ideas that have already been around at least once before. If you really want to know what the future of fashion is, you need to look at an area that is alwasys looking forward: technology. The meeting point of fashion and technology is where the really exciting new ideas are.
For several years now, people have been talking about “wearable technology” as the next big development. In fact, some products that fit this description are already in the shops. You can buy watches that do everything your smart phone can do, or glasses with computers in that follow your eye movements and feed information to you as you walk around. But there’s much more to wearable technology than that.
Sports clothing is one area where new ideas are developing very fast. Runners and other sports people already wear small computers on their wrists that give them continuous information about how fast they’re running, how hard their bodies are working and so on. Experts agree that it’s often sports people (ususally young men) who are the first to take up new fashion ideas. Others then follow.
Women, it seems, are usually more interested in what clothes look like than what they can do, and techology has a part to play here too. Designers are already making clothes that can change color with how you are feeling, or react to sound. And if you think that sound unlikely, just think of all the things we accept as quite normal today that seemed impossible or silly only ten years ago.
The main reason that things like this aren’t in normal shops is that they aren’t cheap. But, as with all technological products, the price will surely come down fast. In any case, technological clothing doesn’t have to be expensive.
1. What does the author intend to tell us in the first paragraph?| A．Technology develops faster than fashion. |
| B．The old fashion ideas are more popular. |
| C．Technology can bring new ideas to fashion. |
| D．Fashion keeps moving forward. |
| A．The fact that women prefer the fashion style. |
| B．The truth that people’s feelings can be controlled by clothes. |
| C．Clothes that can answer questions. |
| D．Clothes that can change colors according to wearers’ feelings. |
| A．Technological clothing is not available on the market. |
| B．Sports people are the first to accept new fashions. |
| C．Women do not like technological clothing. |
| D．Technological clothing will be expensive. |
| A．Doubtful | B．Optimistic |
| C．Negative | D．Objective |
【推荐2】Marcus Eriksen was studying Plastic pollution when he met camel expert Ulrich Wernery. They went deep into the desert and spotted a camel skeleton (骨架). Eriksen was not prepared for what he saw in the desert. "I was just appalled," he said, "because inside the dead body of a camel was a mass of plastic bags, which was as big as a medium-sized suitcase."
Wernery is a scientist working in a research lab in Dubai. Since 2008 Wernery's team has examined 30,000 dead camels. They found 300 of those dead camels had a mass of plastic bags in their bodies. As camels wander in the desert, they eat plastic bags and other rubbish that move into trees and pile up along roadsides. "To a camel, if it's not sand, it's food," explains Eriksen.
Tightly packed masses of indigestible (难消化的) things can be built up in the digestive system of people or animals. Scientists call them bezoars (胃石). Normally, these are made of vegetable fibers or hair. Werner and Eriksen call those found in the camels "polybezoars". It points to their origin: plastic polymers.
In a new study, Eriksen and Wernery report data suggesting that each year these polybezoars are killing off around 1 in every 100 camels. Of five camel bezoars analyzed for this study, the plastic content ranged from 3 to 64 kilograms. "If it is confirmed that 1 percent of camels died due to plastic by future and more detailed studies, then plastic pollution will certainly be important concern for camels," says Luca Nizzetto, an environmental scientist. "Such studies are important, because they raise social awareness about this pollution."
Banning plastic bags and single-use plastics is crucial for protecting camels and other wildlife, Eriksen says. "Plastic bags blow out of garbage cans, out of landfills, out of trucks and out of people's hands." What's more, he adds, "They travel for hundreds of miles."
1. What does the underlined word "appalled" in paragraph I mean?| A．Addicted. | B．Delighted. | C．Satisfied. | D．Shocked. |
| A．People have cleaned rubbish in the desert. |
| B．Camels often mistake plastics as food. |
| C．Camels are always walking along the road. |
| D．There are 30,000 camels living in the world. |
| A．It is related with plastic. | B．It helps camels digest food. |
| C．It consists of vegetable fibers. | D．It can also be found in humans' body. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Disappointed. | C．Supportive. | D．Careless. |
【推荐3】When he first rose to stardom in the NBA, Yao Ming could not possibly have known the influence he would have on the American understanding of China.
In the eyes of many Americans, Chinese are short, bookish, and not especially athletic. Yao, 26, has turned that image on its head. A giant at 2.26 metres, he has been the most talked-about player in the league since he topped the NBA draft（选秀）in 2002.
When Yao first joined the Rockets and struggled with an American style of basketball, many were quick to label（标记）Yao “a failure”. But Yao played on. He did not let the criticism affect his performance. Even when former NBA star Charles Barkley bet that Yao could not score more than 19 points in a single game, Yao kept his self-respect. The same cannot be said for Barkley, who was forced to kiss a real donkey’s ass（屁股）when Yao passed the 19-point mark early in his first season.
For Americans, Yao’s polite and friendly personality is a welcome contrast to the rude behaviour of the NBA’s bad boys. Compared with most other NBA players, Yao Ming is a true gentleman. He respects all of his opponents（对手）, even those who are not friendly to him.
“He is so wise and humourous that he seems like a diplomat（外交家）rather than a basketball player sometimes,” said Ron Burke, an NBA TV reporter.
In addition, Yao’s witty answers have changed the opinion that Chinese people are boring. When asked what were his favourite English words, Yao told the press that the five words were “This is the last question.” Yao is winning supporters within the league as well. After a Rockets-Lakers game that Shaquille O’Neal had to sit out with an injury, O’Neal said, “You played pretty good, Yao Ming.” Yao replied, “That’s because you weren’t there.”
1. What attitude do many people take with Yao Ming when he first joined the Rockets?| A．Friendly. | B．Doubtful. | C．Sincere. | D．Angry. |
| A．proved that he was athletic | B．passed the 19-point mark early |
| C．showed his politeness and friendliness | D．beat former NBA star Charles Barkley |
| A．Yao Ming was respectful and smart | B．Yao Ming was boring and proud |
| C．Yao Ming topped the NBA draft | D．Yao Ming wasn’t a failure any more |
| A．Yao Ming’s road to stardom. |
| B．The skills Ming showed in NBA. |
| C．Yao Ming’s competition with other NBA players. |
| D．The impact of Yao Ming on Americans’ attitudes towards Chinese. |
